A Japanese high school girl was rescued from her captor after using a PlayStation 4 to communicate her location to the police.
PlayStation 4 is known to give people of all ages the latest entertainment in the gaming world. While it has been known to be a source of fun and entertainment, who would’ve thought that it could be an instrument to solve a month-long search for a missing teen.
How PlayStation 4 saved a girl’s life
Push Square cites a Japanese media outlet, NHK News, about the story of the teen kidnapped by her 44-year old “pen pal” about a month ago.
Accordingly, the Japanese teen traveled from Saitama to Tokyo to meet the man. Per NHK news, this guy is a company manager in Yokohama, and the two met through social media.
He brought the teen to his home and confiscated her phone. She was then tied to a pipe, confining her. The girl had been missing for a month before her imminent rescue happened.
The gaming publication notes that the girl’s parents had already reported her missing, but her disappearance was difficult to trace.
Until one day, while the captor’s out, the teen was able to send an email to the police which led them to her location. Now, it wasn’t reported as to how the girl got a hold of a PS4 controller exactly.
But GameRant considers the possibility of somehow operating the PlayStation 4 through its voice commands.
Nonetheless, the police was able to infiltrate the kidnapper’s home, where they found her tied to an iron pipe.
Thankfully she was safely returned her family. It is also important to note that the girl was recovered without injuries.
For her captor, it appears that he is involved in other unsolved crimes apart from this kidnapping.
How was the girl able to send an email through PS4?
GameRant reports that the gaming console has a built-in web browser. It is rarely used by gamers, however.
In fact, Sony has this in most of its gaming consoles, even with the PlayStation Portable. It does have a “clunky user interface.” Nonetheless, it served to be useful in dire times such as this.
Other PlayStation news
Meanwhile, the console’s successor, PlayStation 5 is likely to be made available through pre-orders very soon. Should the rumors turn out to be true, we might see an announcement within the week.
“PS5 have scheduled an announcement tomorrow”
– GAME Guildford #PS5 pic.twitter.com/gtTqO1QuVD— ▶︎ Play Games Movies (@PlayGamesMovies) September 8, 2020
Securing one will be quite the racing battle as Sony may limit the quantity of the PS5 consoles for pre-order.
Images courtesy of EVG Culture/Pexels, Stephanie Hau/Unsplash